Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Let's hear the "cops shut us down" stories
- Thread starter Bob-I
- Start date
it was Mothers Day in the late-seventies and we were bored. We decided to bring up the band equipment up from the basement and jam in the backyard. Nobody could actually play a whole song so we kind of just did a drunken/stoned noise jam. One dude got on the mic and started screaming; "HAPPY MUTHA'S DAY MUTHA'S!". Next thing you know the biggest cop I'd ever seen walked around the corner of the house into the back yard. He said they received thirteen complaints from the neighborhood. We figured that had to be a record so we cracked open another round of beers! Nothing like the 18 year old drinking age back then!
We decided for some reason to practice outside in the driveway one very nice summers day in Lafayette. This is kinda in the sticks but still close to the edge of town. Of course the cops show up, like real soon. Manshack, yes that's his real name says "Can I help you ossifers?" (classic) They say, complaints have been phoned in(one cop is actually pointing in the direction) and you know who it is, so go back inside or stop but if we have to come back we'll definitely take your guitar(pointing at at Roberts '84 strat) and your bass ( my '75 Rick) and you head (again Roberts Sunn Model T) they tell our drummer, who's "holdin" and scared to fkn death, that they wud just take him down the road and beat the ship out of him and then they "approach" Randy (vox) and say "There's nothing we can do to make things worse for you bro, your ugly and your vocals suck"
and they turned around and left.
just like that, they were gone. Like a thief in the night (daynight). Cool cops in southern Louisiana turn of the century.
I don't mean to turn this into anything political but we were clearly causing a disturbance, the cops gave us instructions, we followed them and we are still alive. I'm just sayin
and they turned around and left.
just like that, they were gone. Like a thief in the night (daynight). Cool cops in southern Louisiana turn of the century.
I don't mean to turn this into anything political but we were clearly causing a disturbance, the cops gave us instructions, we followed them and we are still alive. I'm just sayin
A few years ago we were playing in a back yard on Halloween in Belmont - it was unseasonably warm that year and it was a fun gig with lots of parents and kids in costumes, we were just about to wrap up the set anyway (10:30-11:00 PM or so) when the police showed up. Turns out the call came from Waltham, which was on the other side of a couple acres of woods and it took awhile before the Waltham police contacted the Belmont police who genuinely felt bad about it but needed to maintain a good relationship with the neighboring town. For a bunch of reasonably respectable middle-aged dads (with a pretty loud PA thanks to our gear-crazed lead guitarist), getting shut down that night continues to be a badge of honor.
My kids and I were doing a gig as a present for a friends 40th birthday party at the end of last October (Halloween fancy dress) so I went around early to set up the PA. While setting up in the back yard the neighbors put on some loud 'orrible gangstar rap/hip hop music on their back balcony. My friend explained that their new neighbors had been playing pretty loud music three out of the last four nights till the early hours of the morning (midweek) but he didn't complain as he knew with his party coming up it might get a little loud even though we were only two acoustic guitars, bass and cajon. So the girls do one set without me, very mellow and not at all loud, and then there was some speeches. During the speeches the d**ks next door turn their music on and up pretty loud. We go into the next set with me on bass and pick the volume up a bit. It's loud enough for fun but you can still talk comfortably 20 foot or so away. Anyway, we finish the set and put on some fairly quiet background music and about 20 mins later there's a knock at the door. One of the local cops is there who most of us knew pretty well (very small town) and tells us to turn it down. I said if we turn it down any more we won't even be able to hear it. He apologises, just doing his job etc, pretty much killed the party though.
Turned out that the complainant was another neighbor who thought it was the d***heads from next door again and thought enough's enough and called the cops.
Turned out that the complainant was another neighbor who thought it was the d***heads from next door again and thought enough's enough and called the cops.
Last edited:
My neighbors in college had a crab feast. It was on a Sunday afternoon. One of the guys worked at a fish processing plant and got a large amount of crab so we set up on a makeshift stage made of particle board and pallets. We were a kind of jammy rock band and were playing well. We were on our second to last song, probably "Truckin'" by the Dead when all the sudeen two Sheriff's Deputies come walking around the corner. As we noticed them one by one we went into a kind of stun mode where we weren't quite sure what to do. It sounded like someone pulled the plug on a record player as we grinded to a stop. Some guy on the next street worked the night shift and thought we were tooo loud for him to sleep.
The most recent was just a few years ago. I was playing mandolin in an acoustic Celtic band. We were playing a backyard fundraiser for the local symphony. No drums, just acoustic guitar, bass, fiddle, mando. We had a small PA to cover about 50 + guests. We were playing and suddenly we got the word to shut it down. We ended up turning the speakers in and turning way down to finish the night, but after years of playing in loud bands, here was this little acoustic band at a "society" party getting shut down by the cops. I think there are just people who are afraid of live music.
The most recent was just a few years ago. I was playing mandolin in an acoustic Celtic band. We were playing a backyard fundraiser for the local symphony. No drums, just acoustic guitar, bass, fiddle, mando. We had a small PA to cover about 50 + guests. We were playing and suddenly we got the word to shut it down. We ended up turning the speakers in and turning way down to finish the night, but after years of playing in loud bands, here was this little acoustic band at a "society" party getting shut down by the cops. I think there are just people who are afraid of live music.
s0c9
Supporting Member
Today, many cities have "noise ordinances". If the wind is in the wrong direction, the cops show. Private and public venues I have played at have had cops show up and measure the decibel level. If you are under the limit, you get to play on. If not.. you get shut down and a ticket MAY be written.. $250 in my town.
Had a standing Weds night gig in a hole in the wall in Lackawanna (first town South of Buffalo). Bars are open until 4am in Erie County, noise ordinance for live music is 1am. We were running a little late and were wrapping up the last set with "Sympathy for the Devil". The back room is smoky and dark. Suddenly I'm blinded by bright beams of light. ***? So the singer is belting out the verse "Just as every Cop is a criminal" ...and I figure out the light is the Boys in Blue with their flashlights, trying to get our attention on stage. Yeah, we shut it down
Early 80's my original metal/hair band had a live show that was going to be our first out door event it was a football stadium. We were young and never played outside so I ask my parents if we could do a rehearsal in their yard. Both of my parents were guitarist so they had no problem with it. So we went about setting up on 4 large planks and a drum raiser made of milk crates at the time i was running through two SVT 8*10 on either side of the stage and two 1975 300w SVT heads, Guitarist/ singer had a 100 watt Marshall stack and the lead guitarist had a Ampeg V4. We had rented a monster PA system from the local music store and mic'ed everyone. We started getting ready about 11am and had everything a go by 2pm we were going to run this the show an then break down. So as you can now guess we were loud! to a point people pulled over to listen to the music before we knew it the street was fill with people and cars and no one could get through so someone called the police the police walked down the block and start yell something at us? We stop playing and the cop said we need to stop playing because we were too loud and block a public street. I being the smart ass that I had always been said the noise violation isn't until after 10pm " which I knew from having a police office knocking on my bedroom window one night I was practicing with my rig around 10:30pm parents weren't home" Anyone my Dad came out and sat on the front porch. The police officer said no more shut it down and I said we have a show tonight in the football stadium, we just need to run through a few more songs he said if we play again he is comming into the yard to arrest us! My Dad hearing that a Rebel himself came off the porch and told the police officer this my house and private property so don't come in my yard, I told my son he could use my yard! the law states 10pm come back then if we are still disturbing anyone. Dad turn to us and said finish up boys and stood next to the front gate the entire 3 more songs. the police stay the entire time and when we were finished the move the crowd which was a big help since we needed to get the truck loaded for the show. My Dad was cool guy he rented a limo to drive the band to the show that night I was lucky to have him God rest his soul. Pix from back in the day Studio One Newark, NJ ha ha ha
Back in the 80's I was in a fraternity and played in a band consisting of members from the house. We were pretty good, and did a bunch of crowd-pleasers for big first-set all-campus needs, then we rocked it with Zep, Rush, Sabbath and whatever else we wanted later in the night for our own sake and the hard-core types that dig that stuff (compared to the fluffy types that would have long-since left anyway). The kicker was our house was right next door to a high level federal law enforcement official with a former campus security position at a place/time where lethal force had been used. How did it go with us? On exceptionally loud evenings, he simply called the house, spoke with the President of the house or other available executive leadership (vice pres, etc) and asked us to turn down, or turn down the KICKIN stereo so they could all sleep. He simply could not have been easier to get along with. We wanted to respect him anyway, but with a neighbor this reasonable, we ENSURED the whole house treated him well - he really did deserve it. PS - during daylight hours we was completely cool, would come over and talk with us a bit, let his little grandson play in our front yard, etc. VERY COOL. 
